Dawn felt the touch of his hand and a warmth started to rush through her.
“I… I should…”
Dawn was finding it hard to talk as Durian’s eyes watched her. A tap on the door had her jump as if a little girl caught with her hand in the jar of sweets. She stood and brushed out her dirty maids clothes and went to the door. She looked back at Durian who lay looking up at the ceiling. Dawn opened the door to find Marion there. The silence was deep if only momentary, and Dawn said,
“Marion, I believe Durian was asking about you, but he used the name Mariel. Come in.”
Mariel pushed past Dawn as if she wasn’t there and closed the door.

_________________
“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door.
You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet,
there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

"Thank you, Dawn. Excuse us." Mariel pushed past Dawn and shut the door after her, then quickly crossed the room to where Durian lay.
He looked awful...but she was glad that Dawn had tended to him.
"My lord...? Are you...are you well?"
She knelt down next to him and hesitantly placed a hand on his arm.

"And then," Freja gasped, laughing so hard she could neither breathe nor speak for the moment.

"What?" Hilferin asked, leaning in towards her, "Damn you woman, out with it!"

His demand made her laugh harder and she thumped a fist onto the bar, making mostly empty tankards jump.

"And then he said, 'That's what she said!'," she finished, riotous laughter spilling out of Shieldmaiden and Ranger alike.

"He did not say that," Hilferin said, wiping tears of mirth from his cheeks, "You're making that up!"

Elsewhere, Caila rolled her eyes to the ceiling but said nothing of the hilarity unfolding at the end of the bar. Or of the fact that the Shieldmaiden had dumped her armour onto the floor three tankards ago now.

Bubbles of laughter still surfacing, Freja attempted to straighten herself and adopt a sincere, credible expression. She held up her left hand and said as solemnly as she could, "I swear it is true, Ranger. I swear upon, upon my horse."

"Your stolen horse."

"He's mine now. I paid for him, in the end. Three long years in Dale. You ever been to Dale, Hilferin?" she asked and then shuddered with distaste, "So many damn trees."

"What have trees ever done to offend you so?"

"You ever see what happens when a rider finds a low hanging branch too late?" came her grim answer as she shook her head and then drained the rest of her ale, "And Huorns."

"Well, you'll be pleased to know there are no Huorns in Arnor," he informed her as he collected up their tankards to refill them.

Freja favoured him with a sceptical look and then eyed the window, "Still a lot of trees, though."

"What do you propose? Cut them all down?" he asked dubiously. Freja shrugged at the question, considered it for a while and then a grin came across her features as her eyes cut sideways.

Hilferin shook his head at that as he set her tankard down beside her on the bar. A companionable silence sprang up between the pair, or so Hilferin thought until Freja pushed out a sigh that sounded suspiciously bored. She had rolled up the sleeves of the simple tunic she wore and her forearms were surprisingly pale. Hidden from the sun under gauntlets, he presumed. Freja turned from the study of the window to consider Hilferin. She planted an elbow on the bar, forearm extended upwards, and wriggled long, strong fingers in the air.

"Ever arm wrestled a Shieldmaiden before?" she asked, fingers waving and a smile flickering.

"There are any number of things I've never done with a Shieldmaiden before," Hilferin answered, his gaze shifting from her hand to his face.

"Frightened?" she taunted.

"Oh, I know I'll win," he returned, throwing back some ale to mask his grin at her delight over his boast, "What I don't know is why I should bother?"

"What would make it worth your while?" she inquired, stretching her hand and cocking a brow at him, "What price would salvage your battered pride?"

_________________
R'AMEN

Lyiana turned again and was about to shut the door when she paused and turned around at the sound of Kayden's voice. After he voiced his desire to repay her, she opened her mouth and looked at him with kindness and...fondness.
"My lord, I...the only way you need to repay me is by resting and getting better. For it is then that you will be able to make a new life for yoruself. Are....are you sure that you don't want a bedroll?"
She cringed slightly as she saw the obvious pain he was in, but before he could answer, she crossed the room and rummaged through her pouch at her hip.
"Here....I...it's not much, but this will help to ease the pain." She handed him a small vial that was full of an amber liquid with little leaves floating around. As he reached out for it, their fingers touched, and immediately a warmth ran through her. She let out a nervous breath and glanced down in an effort to hide the blush that had risen to her cheeks.

Kayden pondered the bedroll, almost as if it was something he was uncertain of. As Lyiana came back across the room towards him his mind left that pondering and focused on her. She pulled out the vile and he gladly accepted it, murmuring a thanks. As he took it, though, his fingers brushed against hers. He told himself he hadn't done that on purpose, but he was only lying to ease his own conscience.

Kayden o served the blush from the young women, despite her efforts to hide it.

"It would seem," Kayden said softly, diverting his eyes from Lyiana. "I am prone to rash decessions." He blinked his eyes closed for a long moment, then opened them to lift his gaze to meet Lyiana's. "I find myself quite taken by your company. I... S-suppose..." He paused and a painful expression came over his face, but it was one of emotional pain not physical. Then he sat there with his mouth open for a long while, seemingly trying to think of what to say.

"A bedroll would be welcomed," he finally finished, looking away and towards the window.

_________________




Visit The Varsian Kingdom!

"Milord, I..." Her voice fell flat in uncertainty as he looked away from her and out the window. She didn't know exactly what to say, or rather how to say what she felt, for she was afraid of the past coming back to haunt her. She was here to tend to him, not to care deeply for him-but alas, that is what she felt for him-that was what her profession was about. Tending to people and healing them, not forming an intense relationship with them.
But there was something different about him; she felt drawn to him, despite his past. She wanted to get to know him and...and shoulder the burden with him.
She decided then and there that she would just have to suffer the consequences of the risks this took.
"Milor-Kayden?" She looked up at him and shifted on her feet.
"I...I find myself...drawn to you. I enjoy being in your presence. I...I hope that I'm not being to forward and if I am then you can dismiss me."

Kayden brought his eyes forward again. Happiness was in them, but so was worry.

"I would be lying if I said I didn't feel the same," he told her. "But my past is... Very complicated. I'm afraid it may come back to hurt you if we... Great close. You heal people... I have spent the last six years doing just the opposite... And not in a conventional way."

He looked into her eyes and dared to touch a finger to her hand. "You are a good person," he said. "I am not so sure I am anymore."

_________________




Visit The Varsian Kingdom!

Something akin to a spark ran through her hand as his finger grazed the back of her hand.
"But, Kayden, if you were not a good man, you would not be telling me this."
As she spoke, she turned her hand around so that his fingers were touching her palm; she could feel her cheek burn so she knew that she was blushing. But everything she said was true.
"But you are wrong....I am not all that....good. I, too am afraid of what may come if...if we...begin again together."

_________________
“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door.
You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet,
there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

Mariel's eyes burned with a fire akin to jealousy as Dawn snapped at her, and she nearly grabbed her arm to pull her away from Durian, but refrained. Dawn was right. She and this shieldmaiden had taken care of him, not her. But still, she was not about to let this woman know her apology.
"My lady, I believe that Durian asked for me, did he not? Now if you don't mind I would like to have a word with him....in private."

"You, Shieldmaiden and Ranger, I could do with your help if you're not too busy."

This from Caila just as Hilferin was getting ready to say something delightfully cheeky. Freja scowled over her shoulder at the inn-keeper, "What?"

Her sharp tone did not seem to bother Caila at all for she pointed down the hall, "Two women squabbling over that man you stitched up here."

"Don't see how that's any of our business," Hilferin countered and Caila glowered at him and Freja both.

"It will be if they make another mess! I can't afford to have Dawn mopping up blood from breakfast to supper."

Freja pressed out a sigh at this and pushed away from the bar, muttering to herself as she strode to the entrance of the hall. Sure enough, she could hear women bickering over a man. Hardly ever worth it, she thought to herself as she pushed up her sleeves. She cleared her throat, and called down the hall using the exact tone she had used to quell any number of silly spats between initiates. Usually over more important things such as who had stolen which girl's spear or shield, or eaten the last of the stew.

"DON'T YOU MAKE ME COME DOWN THERE, LADIES!" she shouted, cracking her knuckles for good measure.

Then she turned about to face Hilferin, "Now, where were we?"

_________________
R'AMEN

Kayden let his hand wrap around Lyiana's and he looked to her, searching her eyes.

"Then perhaps we can face our pasts together," he offered. "But if... Something we're to happen," he looked away from Lyiana's steady gaze and reddened cheeks. "Please understand, I will do what I must to protect you... Even if I must protect you from myself."

_________________




Visit The Varsian Kingdom!

Mariel suddenly heard a loud shout from the Common Room, and the intensity in the shieldmaidens voice caused her to nearly jump out of her skin. Durian's voice, his lightheartedness, caused her to turn back to him with a small smile; that smile faded, however, as he took both their hands in his and spoke.
She couldn't help but smile, however as Durian ordered the girl away. He must have remembered something about them to have sent her away.
Mariel did flinch though as the door slammed behind them, and she thought she heard her husbands' voice in the hallway, commenting rudely about her.
"*beep*." She muttered before lifting her gaze once more to Durian.
"Durian, I...I'm so sorry for leaving you. But, at the same time, I had to leave quickly, for my husband started chasing after me. But alas...perhaps I should begin from the beginning."
And so she told Durian everything that had happened since they got back from the caves; their plan to split up and her to go inside to scout the Inn to her husband chasing her on horseback.
"My lord, I know this may not be the best time, since you don't recall any of this, but...he is here....in the Inn." A breath escaped her lips and fear flashed in her dewey eyes.
"I am frightened, Durian."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lyiana's cheeks brightened as she felt this mans' hand encompass hers, but as he looked away, her smile began to fade. She hoped that whatever would come for him wouldn't cause him to do the latter, but deep down, she knew that it would be for the best.
"I...I understand, Kayden."

What was it with Rangers, Freja wondered as her might met with Hilferin's. First at Dunharrow, with Berendil of Cardolan, and now Hilferin of Arnor. Her piercing gaze rested entirely on Hilferin's and her smile when she saw his grey eyes widen with understanding was the same as the one she had offered at Dunharrow: carnal. It never did to underestimate a Shieldmaiden's strength. Particularly one that could skewer a wild boar or swing war axes.

"You never did set your wager," she purred, merriment flickering at the corners of her lips up.

Hilferin's brows lifted, "You really like a contest, don't you."

"Oh yes," she sighed, happily content, and tightened her hold on Hilferin's hand.

_________________
R'AMEN

_________________
“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door.
You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet,
there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings